Batting

FLORENCE, SC – Junior outfielder Reese Cooley was only a single shy of hitting for the cycle while driving in four runs and leading Francis Marion University to an 11-4 non-conference win over Chowan University, Wednesday night (Feb. 15) in college baseball action.

Francis Marion has equaled the best start in program history at 8-0, previously accomplished by the 1997 and 2016 squads. FMU will look to set a new standard when the Patriots play host to Newberry College for a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m. on Jeffords Allstate Insurance Day at Sparrow Stadium.

Cooley was looking to join Lewis Brown (1978), Rodney Rogers (1993), Tim Dockery (1997), and Matt Rubino (2015) as the only Patriots to hit for the cycle, and the first to do it at Sparrow Stadium. Cooley hit a three-run homer in the second, lined an RBI double in the third, and tripled to lead off the eighth to finish the game 3-for-5.

Senior shortstop Zach Callahan went 2-for-4 with a run scored and three driven in. He also pitched a scoreless inning from the mound. Junior left fielder Brooks Kennedy delivered a two-run single in the Patriots' eight-run second frame. That outburst erased an early 2-0 Chowan lead and put FMU ahead to stay.